My Soul to Keep
Page 76
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When would I have seen Avaris proxy? You think he parades his staff in front of me every time I visit Addison?
Lovely. Well, we know hes human. I shrugged. Or at least he thinks hes human. But then again, so had I.
Tod stared out at the crowd. Okay, so were looking for someone who probably stands out almost as badly as we do. How hard can that be?
It turned out to be pretty damn hard. People were everywherepeople defined as beings able to move under their own powerand while the vast majority of them looked terrifying to my humanoid-accustomed eyes, sprinkled throughout the array of extra limbs, missing extremities, backward joints, wings, horns, claws, and the odd tentacle were the occasional normal-looking beings with the proper proportions and standard number of appendages.
Some of these creatures, upon closer examination, were very definitely not human. One normal-looking woman turned out to have perfectly round, anime eyes with bright teal irises, surrounded by rich, deep rings of lavender. Another mans flesh, when I saw it up close, was covered in shallow but pervasive wrinkles, like a Sphinx kitten, and for several seconds, I battled a horrifying impulse to tug on a flap of the skin drooping from his arm to see how far it would stretch.
Yet others could easily have been kids in my third-period class, or the parents who picked them up after school. The variety of shapes, sizes, and colors was truly astounding and almost too disorienting for me to process, with shock and fear still racing through my veins. So when my gaze finally settled on a familiar profile in the crowd, it was all I could do not to shout her name across the multitude, which would surely have gotten us all killed.
Instead, I grabbed Tods arm, trying to guide his gaze with my own. Addison I whispered, standing on my toes to get as close as I could to his ear.
As if she heard me, Addy suddenly turned, and my breath caught in my throat, trapped by horror so profound it had no expression. Addisons profile was just as I remembered it, bright blue eye, heavily lashed lid, and a flawless cheek and nose. But the other side of her face was a ruined mass of oozing red wounds and black crusted flesh, stretching from her scalpwhere most of her beautiful blond hair had been burned offto below her collarbone, where her skin disappeared beneath her shirt.
My hand tightened around Tods arm, but he only pried my fingers loose and squeezed them, then let me go.
I forced my gaze away from Addy to glance at Tod, who betrayed neither horror nor shock. He exhaled in relief, then headed for Addison with quick, determined strides.
Gathering Sophies stupid long skirt in both hands, I rushed after him and caught up as he sidestepped a tall, skeletal woman with dark eyes and cheeks hollow enough to cradle a pool ball.What happened to her? I whispered as we walked, my horror on Addisons behalf almost eclipsing my terror of the creatures all around us.
It looks like he lit her on fire today.
Today?
Tod nodded grimly as Addys gaze found him, and her half-scarred mouth struggled into a gruesome smile. What part of eternal torture dont you understand? Yesterday he peeled her flesh off while she screamed, and you could see her teeth through her cheek. He always leaves one side perfect, though, so she can mourn her own beauty. Her room is walled-in mirrors, and the damage goes all the way down her body.
I couldnt voice my horror; I had neither the words nor the nerve. Questions were all I could manage, and my voice croaked as I forced it into the bone-cold air. How does she even have a body? We buried her. I saw her in the coffin.
Avari gave it back to her.
I dodged a man with a suspicious lump roiling beneath his broad white shirt, lowering my gaze at the last second to avoid his. But is it real?
Tods jaw tightened. Real enough to feel every second of agony.
By then wed reached Addison, and I forced my mouth closed, unwilling to embarrass either of us with my ignorance. Tod slid one arm around her waist and, though Addy winced, she didnt shrug out of his grip. Without a word, he led us back toward that same weird tree, and only once we were hidden by the heavy branches did he exhale, and even Addison seemed to relax.
Kaylee, you look beautiful! She reached out with one mutilated handfingers fixed into a clawlike position by her fresh, puckered scarsto touch Sophies pristine white satin dress.
Thanks. I wished I could say the same to her, but the most I could manage was a small smile to cover my horror.
Its my cousins.
Its not your fault, I thought for at least the twelfth time as I stared at my skirt to avoid looking at her wounds. I hadnt done this to Addison; shed done it to herself when she sold her soul. All Id done was fail to save her.
Did you find him? Tod said, rescuing me from my own guilt and denial.
Addy nodded eagerly, then winced when the skin on the right half of her face stretched. I let him out. Hes supposed to meet us here when he finds your brother. And your dad, she added, glancing at me in sympathy. Hey, there he is!
I twisted to peer between two low-hanging branches, and my eyes nearly fell out of my skull. Walking briskly toward us from the edge of the crowd was the trash-can-lid-wielding boy Id seen in the field of razor wheat when Id woken up in the Netherworld.
Lovely. Well, we know hes human. I shrugged. Or at least he thinks hes human. But then again, so had I.
Tod stared out at the crowd. Okay, so were looking for someone who probably stands out almost as badly as we do. How hard can that be?
It turned out to be pretty damn hard. People were everywherepeople defined as beings able to move under their own powerand while the vast majority of them looked terrifying to my humanoid-accustomed eyes, sprinkled throughout the array of extra limbs, missing extremities, backward joints, wings, horns, claws, and the odd tentacle were the occasional normal-looking beings with the proper proportions and standard number of appendages.
Some of these creatures, upon closer examination, were very definitely not human. One normal-looking woman turned out to have perfectly round, anime eyes with bright teal irises, surrounded by rich, deep rings of lavender. Another mans flesh, when I saw it up close, was covered in shallow but pervasive wrinkles, like a Sphinx kitten, and for several seconds, I battled a horrifying impulse to tug on a flap of the skin drooping from his arm to see how far it would stretch.
Yet others could easily have been kids in my third-period class, or the parents who picked them up after school. The variety of shapes, sizes, and colors was truly astounding and almost too disorienting for me to process, with shock and fear still racing through my veins. So when my gaze finally settled on a familiar profile in the crowd, it was all I could do not to shout her name across the multitude, which would surely have gotten us all killed.
Instead, I grabbed Tods arm, trying to guide his gaze with my own. Addison I whispered, standing on my toes to get as close as I could to his ear.
As if she heard me, Addy suddenly turned, and my breath caught in my throat, trapped by horror so profound it had no expression. Addisons profile was just as I remembered it, bright blue eye, heavily lashed lid, and a flawless cheek and nose. But the other side of her face was a ruined mass of oozing red wounds and black crusted flesh, stretching from her scalpwhere most of her beautiful blond hair had been burned offto below her collarbone, where her skin disappeared beneath her shirt.
My hand tightened around Tods arm, but he only pried my fingers loose and squeezed them, then let me go.
I forced my gaze away from Addy to glance at Tod, who betrayed neither horror nor shock. He exhaled in relief, then headed for Addison with quick, determined strides.
Gathering Sophies stupid long skirt in both hands, I rushed after him and caught up as he sidestepped a tall, skeletal woman with dark eyes and cheeks hollow enough to cradle a pool ball.What happened to her? I whispered as we walked, my horror on Addisons behalf almost eclipsing my terror of the creatures all around us.
It looks like he lit her on fire today.
Today?
Tod nodded grimly as Addys gaze found him, and her half-scarred mouth struggled into a gruesome smile. What part of eternal torture dont you understand? Yesterday he peeled her flesh off while she screamed, and you could see her teeth through her cheek. He always leaves one side perfect, though, so she can mourn her own beauty. Her room is walled-in mirrors, and the damage goes all the way down her body.
I couldnt voice my horror; I had neither the words nor the nerve. Questions were all I could manage, and my voice croaked as I forced it into the bone-cold air. How does she even have a body? We buried her. I saw her in the coffin.
Avari gave it back to her.
I dodged a man with a suspicious lump roiling beneath his broad white shirt, lowering my gaze at the last second to avoid his. But is it real?
Tods jaw tightened. Real enough to feel every second of agony.
By then wed reached Addison, and I forced my mouth closed, unwilling to embarrass either of us with my ignorance. Tod slid one arm around her waist and, though Addy winced, she didnt shrug out of his grip. Without a word, he led us back toward that same weird tree, and only once we were hidden by the heavy branches did he exhale, and even Addison seemed to relax.
Kaylee, you look beautiful! She reached out with one mutilated handfingers fixed into a clawlike position by her fresh, puckered scarsto touch Sophies pristine white satin dress.
Thanks. I wished I could say the same to her, but the most I could manage was a small smile to cover my horror.
Its my cousins.
Its not your fault, I thought for at least the twelfth time as I stared at my skirt to avoid looking at her wounds. I hadnt done this to Addison; shed done it to herself when she sold her soul. All Id done was fail to save her.
Did you find him? Tod said, rescuing me from my own guilt and denial.
Addy nodded eagerly, then winced when the skin on the right half of her face stretched. I let him out. Hes supposed to meet us here when he finds your brother. And your dad, she added, glancing at me in sympathy. Hey, there he is!
I twisted to peer between two low-hanging branches, and my eyes nearly fell out of my skull. Walking briskly toward us from the edge of the crowd was the trash-can-lid-wielding boy Id seen in the field of razor wheat when Id woken up in the Netherworld.
